When composite structural members are joined together, gaps or voids may be present along bond lines between the members which may need to be filled in order to increase the strength of the bond. For example, in the aircraft industry, composite fuselage stiffeners such as stringers may include adhesive filler at the radius bond line between the stringer and a fuselage skin. Voids may also be present where plies are bent or folded during layup. The adhesive filler is applied in the form of triangular cross section strips, sometimes referred to as noodles or fillers, which fill the voids at the bond line. The fillers may be fabricated from laminated strips of adhesive that are precision cut and roll formed in a sequential manner. This fabrication process requires inspection for foreign object debris, as well as hand installation of the filler into the stringer. Thus, the current process is labor intensive, may require close quality control and necessitates the prefabrication of the fillers prior to installation. Because the fillers must be prefabricated, they may be required to be stored in a chilled environment, typically in a freezer, so that their shape is maintained. Moreover, because of the precision cuts and sequential forming process, the current process may be difficult to automate.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of forming adhesive fillers that may reduce labor costs, processing time and the need to prefabricate the fillers in advance of their installation.